The Bible clearly teaches that the true followers of the Heavenly Father and Christ are not to commit the sin of idolatry by worshipping other gods, by bowing down to them or by serving them.

Exodus 20:3-5 “Thou shalt have no other gods before me. (4) Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: (5) Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them…”

Matthew 19:16-17 “And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? (17) And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.”

I Corinthians 6:9-10 “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, (10)  Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”

Many people that claim to follow Christ, are continually breaking these commandments. There are those who break them ignorantly and others consciously. How are people breaking the first and second commandment?  These commandments are broken when they celebrate days like Christmas, New Year’s Day, and other pagan days of worship called holidays! The “holidays” that are currently celebrated in this world have nothing to do with the Holy Days that the Heavenly Father established in the Bible nor Jesus Christ.

The true meaning of “holiday”

The definition of holiday from Webster’s Dictionary illustrates the fact that the word was derived from Holy Day.

hol·i·day \’hä-l&-“dA\, noun [Middle English, from Old English hAligdæg, from hAlig holy + dæg day]

1 : HOLY DAY

2 : a day on which one is exempt from work; specifically : a day marked by a general suspension of work in commemoration of an event

3 : a period of relaxation: vacation

Throughout the Bible, mainly in Leviticus the 23rd chapter and the book of Esther, it can be found that the true Holy Days are Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Day of Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles, etc…. The scriptures also explain that the Sabbaths of the Lord, the true Holy Days, were days where we were to rest by not working. Therefore, what are the Holy Days that the Lord commanded us to keep?

Exodus 35:2 “Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the LORD: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death.”

Exodus 31:15 “Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.”

Leviticus 23:1-2 “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, (2) Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.” 

The true origins of “Christmas”

Throughout the Americas and many other countries, one of the biggest “holidays” celebrated is Christmas.  Since Christmas is not a holy day according to the Bible, what are its origins? Christmas is a combination of many idol worshipping festivals that date back to the Babylonians and beyond.  The Babylonians worshipped Semiramis, the mother/wife of Nimrod; the Egyptians worshipped Isis and Horus; and the Romans and the Greeks kept Saturnalia which worshipped a host of gods. Other festivals celebrated the winter solstice and other sun gods. The one thing that all those festivals have in common is that they have nothing to do with Christ.  They are idolatrous celebrations of the gods of the nations that had the Israelites in captivity.  The Bible teaches about not following the customs of the nations.

Jeremiah 10:2-5  “Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.  (3)  For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.  (4)  They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.  (5)  They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.”

Similar to the present day, trees were brought into houses, made to stand, decorated with silver and gold, and gifts were placed under them. This was also done during the time of the Babylonians; however, at that time, people believed that the spirit of Nimrod would kill them if they did not offer gifts to the tree. Jeremiah warned the Israelites in the 5th verse that there was no power in the tree to do neither good nor evil. Therefore, this verse proves that celebrating Christmas and having a Christmas tree is a custom of the heathen that we should not follow.

The Birth of Jesus Christ

According to the Bible, the birth of Jesus Christ occurred in the spring around the Passover in the month of Abib (March/April).

Luke 2:1-8 “And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.  (2)  (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)  (3)  And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.  (4)  And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)  (5)  To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.  (6)  And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.  (7)  And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.  (8)  And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.”

These verses prove that the birth of Christ did not occur during the Feast of Dedication, on the 25th day of the month Casleu (December), in the dead of winter. Unfortunately, people have been ignorantly worshipping the birthday of Nimrod or other pagan celebrations on December 25th for ages. The observation of this day was disguised by the Roman Catholic Church, as the birthday of Jesus Christ. Also keep in mind that the Bible does not instruct us to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ at any time.

         “Kwanza”

The custom of Kwanza is a mockery of the Feast Dedication of the Altar. This African pagan custom was created in the 1960’s. It supposedly teaches seven principles with the 7 branch Menorah as its symbol.

Romans 10:2-3 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. (3) For being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.”

This verse demonstrates how the Israelites have gone further into idolatry and away from the commandments. They have now made up their own Kwanza holiday, with pagan customs and rituals. This celebration was partly created in opposition to Christmas but completely misses the mark of the righteousness we should obey.

The true origins of the New Year celebration in January

Exodus 12:2 “This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.”

Deuteronomy 16:1 “Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the LORD thy God: for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.”

The Lord commanded the Israelites to observe the month Abib as the beginning of the year.  Abib is shortly before the Passover which is around March or April dependent upon the lunar calendar (the new moon).  The New Year celebrated in January is the continuation of the idolatrous Christmas celebrations of the sun and the winter solstice.  January 1st is the celebration of Janus, the solar god of daybreak and the beginning of the new solar year.  Once again, neither of these celebrations have anything to do with the commandments that the Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ instructed us to keep.

What must we do as true followers of the Heavenly Father and Christ?

First we must understand:

I Corinthians 10:20 “But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.”

Psalms 96:5 “For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens.”

Deuteronomy 6:14 “Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;”

Then we must make a decision whether we are truly going to serve the Lord or not.

Joshua 24:14-15 “Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. (15) And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

Acts 5:29 “Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.”

Many people have followed the traditions of Christmas and New Year’s in ignorance of their idolatrous nature. They must now choose to follow the commandments as Christ instructed and make a choice to serve the Lord.

Acts 17:29-30 “Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.  30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:”

Matthew 19:16-17 “And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? 17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.”